Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Knitting Therapy

My stress levels the last few days have kind of been through the roof, and I don't really know why. I've just been tense tense tense. I'm behind on everything, but that's nothing new -- it shouldn't be making me stressed. But it is. So I find myself sort of freaking out, tossing Anand in the stroller, and going on hour-long walks in the evening, which do help me calm down.

And also, if the kids go to sleep when they're supposed to (they wouldn't last night, and I ended up falling asleep with Kavi in her bed around 8:30, I think), I have an hour or two afterwards for tv and knitting. I'm too tired to do any real work -- even dishes or grading or e-mail, and certainly not writing. But knitting lets me feel productive, and like I'm not actually wasting time while watching an hour of tv. It calms me.

That's the ribbing for Kate Davies's Owlet sweater; I'm hoping it'll fit Kavi this fall, which means I should make it fast. :-) And then, if it survives, it can be passed down to Anand for next year and/or the year after. I'm working with a new yarn, Spud & Chloe, a cotton-wool blend. So far, I'm enjoying the feel -- I usually find cotton a little irritating to my hands, but this has enough wool in it to be comfortable and soft. And since Kavi hates being too hot, I'm hoping the blend will end up a good autumn weight for her.

The ribbing feels nicely stretchy; I hope it fits. I once again failed to swatch -- I know I'm going to need to at some point -- actually measure things and make calculations and figure out exactly what will fit where. When I make a sweater for myself (someday), it'll be a necessity, since I'll want it to be well-fitted. But so far, I've had pretty good luck with the kids with just making hats and scarves and sweaters and trusting that it'd fit will enough. They shift sizes so fast anyway...

Knitting is definitely therapeutic. Even just buying yarn, stroking it and imagining what you'll make from it is good to boost your mood. I think psychiatrists are missing out on a big therapeutic tool...